Chatbug Karen

Happy Hump Day! I saw that phrase on Facebook and just had to say it! For some reason it cracks me up.

It is a beautiful sunny day here in Indiana. A little bit chilly but that makes it nice when working in the yard. Not much sweating when you have a cool breeze. I plan on getting a load of river rock to fill the flower beds. Where does rock go? We dumped a bunch on top of plastic ground cover a few years ago and now there are bare patches. I love to visit the rock place and look at all the pretty things they have to offer. I would love to have some pink rock and black rock to make a flower bed. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? For now, I will stick with my river rock plan. It is much cheaper.

I have also been thinking about getting one of those prepaid cell phones for my mother in-law so that is on my to do list. She really needs a cell phone but doesn’t think she does. I think she would be okay with a prepaid one. Every penny counts when you are retired.

My grocery list is getting longer. We are just about out of everything! I actually ate oatmeal for breakfast two days in a row! I much prefer a blueberry bagel. Who knows if I might find something in the meat case and decide to cook tonight! Maybe not after working with the river rock. I might not be able to walk much less stand at the stove.

I know. I know. It is Tuesday. I am behind! Here is the 110th edition of Four Foods on Friday!

What can YOU make with

* chicken
* bacon
* cheese
* tomatoes

Hmmm, I would try to make a chicken sandwich! This recipe doesn’t call for bacon but I would fry some bacon and crumble it to add as a garnish. Bacon goes good with everything! I’d add the tomatoes to the side as a salad.


Hot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Serves:
4 servings

Ingredients

* 4 pieces, 6 ounces each, boneless, skinless chicken breast
* Salt and pepper
* 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1 /3 palm full
* 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/3 palm full
* A drizzle extra-virgin olive oil

Sauce for chicken:

* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1/2 cup, 4 ounces, cayenne pepper sauce, preferred brand Frank’s Red Hot
* Bib or leaf lettuce leaves
* 4 crusty rolls, split
* 2 cups sour cream
* 4 scallions, thinly sliced
* 1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled
* Small red onion, thinly sliced
* 8 ribs celery, cut into sticks
* 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into sticks

Directions

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and chili powder. Drizzle breast with a little extra virgin olive oil to coat. Pan grill chicken breasts 5 minutes on each side.

Heat a metal or oven safe glass bowl over low heat and melt butter in the bowl. Add hot sauce to the butter and combine. When the chicken breasts are done, remove from pan and add to the bowl and coat evenly with hot sauce mixture.

Place chicken breasts on bun bottoms and top with crisp lettuce. Combine sour cream, scallions and blue cheese and slather bun tops with blue cheese sour cream. Affix bun tops on sandwiches and serve with remaining sauce for dipping your veggies. Arrange Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches on dinner plates with red onion, celery and carrot sticks.

to purchase a beautiful spring apron!


It is time to stop dealing with home insurance quotes and other tasks and think fun, spring and aprons!

My friend, Vixen, who blogs at Vixen’s Den, is trying to raise money to fund her trip to Bloggy Boot Camp in AZ on May 1st.

I ordered one of Vixen’s aprons just before Christmas and I can tell you that they are gorgeous and made with extreme precision. You will love an apron from Apron Frenzy.

I had an enjoyable week last week while visiting my daughter in Florida. She lives in what used to be an office building. In fact, half of the building is still offices. The rest of the building has been turned into loft apartments.

I felt at home in her spacious home even though it was completely opposite of the carpeted, drywall to the ceiling type of home in which I live. Her entertainment centers hold all her game programs such as Wii and whatever else the others are. I am not up on all those things. Her furniture fits the decor of cement and pipes, adding just the right amount of fabric to give the place a homey feel.

Those of you who know me know that I am a quilter. Well, Stacy would not be my child if she did not have a few quilts around her house. They add warmth yet are just eclectic enough to maintain the modern feel of her space. Full of brushed chrome and wide open spaces, her place felt like a place I could call home.

While visiting Florida last week, I saw the cutest commercials for the Jacksonville Zoo. Little guys in their tuxedo shirts were interacting with an exciting exhibit at the zoo. Penguins from South America swim and play in a new home built especially for them. This home is as close to their natural habitat as possible with open, arid, and rocky features included. There’s even underwater viewing to get you up close to see their aquatic skills. This new display, Tuxedo Coast, offers interaction with kids that even teaches them how to do “the waddle” just like penguins!

Enrich your life. Enrich your child’s life. Visit a zoo.

Friends of ours recently leased a new Honda Accord. Having been raised with the idea that you should always buy a car rather than lease I began to question the logic in that thinking. Should you buy or lease a vehicle? Here is some random information I found.

Leasing is when you finance the use of a vehicle. If you enjoy having a new vehicle every two or three years this might be the option for you. You usually don’t build up any equity when you trade before five or 6 years of ownership. Another advantage to leasing is not having to worry about repairs. Finances play a big part in why leasing is desirable. You have the option of not making a down payment, you pay sales tax only on your monthly payments (in most states), and you pay a financial rate, this is similar to interest on a loan. Because you are paying for the depreciated value of the car rather than the actual value of the car, you can buy more car with your payment. You might be able to afford that car with butt warmers! There are so many different options available on vehicles, it is surprising they don’t also come with a pulse oximeter! Leasing is like paying for what you use. If you want all the bells and whistles, leasing might be for you. Or, opt for a low payment and use your money towards school or a savings account.

Buying a car means you will be financing the purchase of a vehicle. I would never look at buying a car as an investment. Because cars depreciate the moment they are driven off the lot, you never get out as much as you put in when buying a car.

The advantage to buying a vehicle rather than leasing one is that you are able to build up some trade-in or resale value. Another advantage is that you might eventually pay off your car and not have a payment at all. Wouldn’t that be nice. You would be wise to put some money into a savings account to pay for those inevitable repair bills that occur the minute you pay your last payment. I swear, there is a gremlin in vehicles that wrecks havoc the minute the payment hits the bank.

Another advantage to buying a car is that leasing with its restrictions on mileage may not be the best for you if you drive a lot of miles each year.

So, what I discovered is that it is really up to you. Where are you in the style of vehicle needed for your family? Do you drive a lot of miles? Do you tire of a style of car quickly?

Consider your options!

I have to tell you about a great restaurant my daughter introduced me to this past week. I had been eating quite a bit of fried foods on top of sweets and I was beginning to feel a bit sluggish and uncomfortable. I wanted a big ole’ salad with lots of roughage, if you know what I mean.

I love Sweet Tomatoes. Think of buffet but instead of miles of chicken, mac and cheese and other yummy comfort foods, there was every kind of salad you could imagine. I picked a yummy lettuce salad that had pineapple chunks and pecans in it. The restaurant was decorated with old fashioned one inch hexagon ceramic tile in the work areas and carpet in the seating area. The carpet had a tomato motif! I have never seen that before. There were custom travel mugs with tomato imprints and even tomato stickers for the kids. My daughter desperately wanted a tomato sticker for her car but, and I don’t know why, pulled herself away and let the kids have them instead.

I will admit that they had mac and cheese, spaghetti and other foods that I tried to stay away from but failed in my efforts. I even had tapioca pudding. Yummy!

I am a sun worshiper. I admit to loving the warm sun and how it makes me feel. I love to be outdoors, working in the yard or lounging around. I tend to have more energy when I see the sun shining. I feel like I look better when I have a tan. Having a tan covers all those ugly age spots and varicose veins and adult acne. I know that the age spots are probably the result of all those teen years of sunbathing but I don’t care. I am pale without a tan. There. I said it.

My sister was so surprised to find that I have been here in Florida for almost a week without visiting a quilt shop. Well, I have been busy getting used to the area and honestly forgot about quilting. That is so unlike me! Well, I have not been thinking about herpes simplex or anything thought provoking, I have been relaxing! I love having someone else picking out the places she wants to show me. That is what vacation should be about. Mindless travel, right? Anyway, today we will be finding two quilt shops! I’ll be back to let you in on how they fared compared to the shops at home. Have a great day everyone! Oh, and it is a bright sunny day today! Woo hoo! Love it.

While visiting my daughter I have been treated to delicious food cooked on her George Foreman grill. I am surprised at how easy it is to cook things quickly and that they taste so good. I have heard that cooking on the grill is better for our health so that is an incentive for me to cook this way when I get home.

Last night we had Po’ Boy sandwiches made with shrimp. Thinly sliced tomatoes that had marinated in vinegar and spices were used to garnish cooked shrimp. A sauce of spices, lemon juice and mayonnaise was made to spread on toasted Puerto Rican bread before the cooked shrimp was added. Is your mouth watering yet? The sandwiches were scrumptious.